A Warm Welcome
by Nikkel
Summary: As a child, Chell took a field trip to Aperture Science Laboratories. She had no idea what future it would hold for her... Oneshot.


**A Warm Welcome**

_By Nikkel_

( c ) to Valve

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><p>"Okay, everybody, single file now when we get off the bus, we don't want to lose anyone," the teacher chimed as the yellow school bus pulled up to the facility. The first graders were chattering amongst themselves, glad to be out of school and eager to tour the Aperture Science Laboratories.<p>

"I wonder what's inside!" one girl said.

"I hope there's food!" said another.

"Actually, there is probably a heavy amount of science going on in there. Aperture is runner-up to Black Mesa, afterall," surmised one boy.

"Science? Who needs _science_?" laughed a different one.

"Shut up, Wheatley! You're stupid!" shouted another.

The bus stopped and the doors opened. The children stepped off, their teacher taking attendence. "Ricky, Spike, Penny, Neil, Henry, Oswald, Wheatley..."

She paused on the last name and looked into the bus. She waited until a little girl in an orange jumper dress joined the rest of the students, her expression quiet and plain. The teacher smiled. "And Chell. Now, children, single file, single file."

They walked across the blacktop and through the tall, glass doors of Aperture Science Laboratories. Scientists in white lab coats milled about the huge, pristine lobby. Multiple signs hung on the walls, saying things like, "Do not touch the glass", "In case of implosion, look directly at implosion", and "Just as a reminder, do not touch the glass". Two people stood beneath a large, chartreuse sign reading _Aperture Science Laboratories: Science for the Future!_

"Welcome to Aperture Science, kids!" the man exclaimed, dressed in a brown suit and throwing his arms in the air. "It's not often we allow field trips into the facility, but you're a _special _bunch! Not to say that there's something wrong with you, but what do kids know? You're kids! You don't know anything! Anyways, I'm Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science. I'm sure you've heard all about me in your textbooks!"

Cave Johnson grinned, his teeth pearly and white, and his cheeks dimpled and pink. The children and teacher before him blinked. One of the boys picked his nose.

Cave Johnson slapped his forehead, smearing away his jubilant grin. "Caroline, make sure I'm mentioned in their textbooks. We can't have future generations not know who the CEO of Aperture Science is."

"Yes sir, Mr. Johnson," his assistant replied. She looked very much like the rest of the scientists around the facility, as she was dressed in a white lab coat and held a clipboard in front of her, scribbling down her boss' orders.

"Now, let's get moving!" Cave Johnson yelled, his voice bouncing off the tall walls of the expansive room. The scientists around him shook their heads and frowned in annoyance. The class followed him through a door that led into a smaller, more comfortable lobby. The carpet was plush and maroon, several people sitting in fluffy armchairs. Cave Johnson clapped his hands and spun on his heel. "So. What do you youngsters wanna be when you grow up?"

"An astronaut!"

"An adventurer!"

"A chef!"

Cave Johnson grinned again. "Wrong answers, kids! Because let me tell you, those are some very low standards you have for yourselves. I mean, I know you're a bunch of orphans, but you can do better than that! You wanna know what's a better idea? Being an Aperture Science test subject! You get to play with cool toys, do science, and give your parts to a better future! Uh, I mean, _part_. Not _parts_. But don't worry, if you do lose parts, chances are you're a part of the Kinesis Program... Now, let's take a visit to the control room above Test Chamber Alpha."

The class shuffled through a pair of doors leading them through a very narrow hallway. Portraits of Cave Johnson hung every ten feet on the walls. At last, they entered the control room, which consisted of two scientists sitting at a pair of desktop computers, and a third with a clipboard staring out the window. Down below was a man in an orange jumpsuit, standing and rubbing his chin, watching a pipe splatter down a blue, gel-like substance.

"Test Chamber Alpha is where we experiment with our Repulsion Gel, just one of our three gels in development," Cave Johnson explained. All of the children pressed their hands and noses to the glass.

"Away from the glass, please," Caroline reminded them.

A microphone stood on the desk between the two scientists at the computers. They paid zero attention as Cave Johnson snatched the microphone, as if it were an every day thing.

"Hey! You down there!" he barked, his voice echoing in the test chamber below. "Yeah! Uh, Jimmy, or whatever your name is! We got some kids up here that'd like to see some testing!"

The test subject below, whether his name was Jimmy or not, nodded, eyes wide. He jumped onto the Repulsion Gelled-floor and hit the low ceiling with a sickening splat. His body continued to bounce, even though he was unconscious.

Cave Johnson frowned. "Yikes. Uh, let's move along, nothing to see here kids, not important."

They pushed on through another narrow hallway, looking almost exactly like the previous one, but had rows of doors instead of portraits. The boy at the back of the line stopped, paused, and darted through one of the doors. Chell, the girl in the orange jumper dress in front of him, spun around. His foot disappeared through the closing door. She paused, hesitating, but it looked like nobody else had noticed. Taking a deep breath, she chased after him.

Wheatley sprinted down the hallway, grinning. He glanced behind him, blue eyes widening as Chell was hot on his trail. He skidded around a corner and bumped through a pair of scientists. Chell still followed him, dodging the scientists completely, chasing him until he came face-to-face with a dead-ended hallway with a single, metal door. The sign plastered on the surface read _Do Not Enter: Hazardous Materials Inside!_

But that didn't stop Wheatley. He pushed through the door without a second thought. Chell burst after him and came to a screeching halt upon entering the room.

A large machine lie on a huge table in the center of the room. It was bigger than anything she had ever seen – the machine was larger than a school bus and made of glossy, black metal. Wires hooked into it and around it. The machine looked incomplete, but regardless, it gave her the chills. She shivered.

The sound of something toppling over caught her attention. Wheatley was over at another table and knocked a pile of purplish-black rocks onto the floor. One of them actually went _through _the floor and hit a scientist on the floor below. Chell marched up to him, fists clenched and her brow set. She _knew _Wheatley was in trouble. _Again_.

"Hey! Check out these rocks!" Wheatley exclaimed, grinning. He tossed one at her, but it disappeared midair before she could catch it. Wheatley's eyes widened. "Wow! Did you see that? It just vanished!"

Chell rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Oh, c'mon! Hey, what's this thing?" Wheatley darted to another table. It was also full of mysterious rocks, but also held a white, gun-looking device. Chell sprinted in front of it before Wheatley could touch it. He frowned. "What _now_?"

Chell shook her head.

"You can't be serious," Wheatley said. "Okay, okay, you're serious. Well, how about this – You let me see what that thing is, and then we'll go back. How's that?"

Chell raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, I promise."

Chell stepped out of the way. Wheatley grabbed the device, held it upright, and sleeved it up his arm. He looked into the barrel of it, finger on the trigger.

The door banged open. Wheatley dropped the device and hid his hands behinds his back. Chell stood up straight, her hands at her side as Cave Johnson's assistant approached.

"There you are," Caroline said, sounding relieved. "This is a very dangerous place for two young children. Come with me and we'll join the rest of your classmates."

She went up and offered her two hands for them to hold. Wheatley sighed and gave in, but Chell refused, her eyes skeptical.

"Let's go, little girl. There's cake at the end of the tour," Caroline said. Chell hesitated, but took her hand. They walked out of the room, but not before Chell glanced at the big, black machine on the table again.

She swore she saw a yellow light flicker on like an opening eye.

An eye that was _watching her_.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Please excuse the continuity errors, if there are any (i.e., Aperture didn't discover X until after Y). I tried to make this in a very vague time frame, some time after Aperture had experimented with the Mobility Gels, after they had discovered the moon rocks, but before Cave Johnson wanted to put himself in a computer. Anyways. This was just a small fan theory of mine - Chell, along with the other children featured here, were a group of orphans that had futures slated to be either test subjects at Aperture or Personality Cores. I'm aware that Wheatley had been designed as a dampening sphere, but perhaps if to make all of the computers/cores self-aware, they had to have a human basis, then it would make sense. I hope that isn't too confusing to understand... But I thought it would be a nice story to tell, regardless. And yes, I know about the other theories out there (how Chell could be the secret love-child of Cave Johnson and Caroline, that Chell's father worked at Aperture, etc.). But I thought I'd put my twist on things. Let me know what you think, please!


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